Standish of Standish: A Story of the Pilgrims

by Jane G. Austin

Excerpt from Standish of Standish: A Story of the Pilgrims
In making this dramatization of the novel Standish of Standish the writer has endeavored to maintain both the historical atmosphere and the significant traits of characters as portrayed by Mrs. Austin. A few incidents, from the many in the story, have been chosen, such as adapted themselves to dramatic background and unity. The order of episodes has sometimes been changed without destroying the historical sequence and minor incidents have been expanded in scope and dialogue. The earlier scenes upon the Mayflower and Clarke's Island, and the later chapters which relate to the courtship of Barbara, the second wife of Miles Standish, have been omitted because the play has been restricted in time to the months between December 20, 1620, and November, 1621, inclusive. A second romance, besides that of John Alden and Priscilla, has been emphasized with imaginative episodes - the beginning of such friendship between Mary Chilton of the Mayflower and John Winslow, who came in the Fortune and afterwards became her husband.
Mrs. Austin has portrayed life in Plymouth Colony during this first year with a vivid revelation of humanity's experiences - tragic illness, death, and privations, on the one hand, and sturdy courage, faith, and practical achievement on the other. Moreover, the life was not all dull nor prohibitive of passing pleasures for the younger members of the colony.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Adventure, Fiction

100 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

Jane Goodwin Austin, born Mary Jane Goodwin, was an American writer, notable for being the author of 24 books and numerous short stories.

Jane G. Austin was a Pilgrims specialist. The Austin part of her name comes from her marriage, in 1850, to Loring Henry Austin.

Reviews

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: I wrote my dissertation on Jane Goodwin Austin, so I am a little biased. She does not deserve to be forgotten, and she definitely deserves more credit for her role in shaping our understanding of the Pilgrim story. Standish of Standish was a best-seller in its day and stayed in print well into the twentieth century, even being taught in schools as history. The plot follows the events of the Plymouth Colony's first few years, and for the most part, Austin is faithful to the factual record. There are some embellishments, some of which seem ridiculous today, but some of which were believed to be true when she wrote it. And she definitely adds in imaginative elements to round out the story line. The best example is how she more or less "invents" the story of the First Thanksgiving as we commonly think of it today: she imagines the Pilgrims inviting the Wampanoag to dinner, they feast outside, the Wampanoag introduce popcorn, and so on. By building on the bare bones of the primary source accounts, she told a story that captivated the nation. If you're interested, I have more information on my blog, Inventing the Pilgrims.

[Annika Cleeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it, love it, love it.

[Donna Peake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very in depth book on the Pilgrims and their struggles to survive in America. Learned of even more of those who came over in the Mayflower.

[Greg Collver · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not care for this book.